That Malfoy Boy
by pommedeplume
Summary: (July 31, 2007) It's Harry's fourth birthday party and Sirius's cousin just had to bring that Malfoy boy... Part 25 of All That We Have Left series


_July 31, 2007_

Andromeda Tonks was a most charming woman in Remus Lupin's view, possessing the good looks of the Black family but being a much warmer, kinder person. He thought much the same of her eleven year old daughter, Nymphadora, who preferred just being called Tonks for reasons that Remus could completely sympathise with. Remus couldn't say he found Andromeda's other companion, brought along with her for the occasion Harry's birthday, to be so charming.

Remus had only met the Malfoy boy once before, earlier that year at Sirius's mother's funeral. The boy had seemed just as unpleasant as his parents, though Remus was loath to judge one so small.

When Sirius opened the door to greet his favourite cousin Remus had found himself instantly perplexed by Draco's appearance. He couldn't even understand what sequence of events could've lead to the boy ending up on their doorstep.

Thankfully, Sirius was just as confused and took Andromeda aside to politely question her.

"What's the boy doing here? You can't possibly tell me Lucius and Narcissa are OK with this?" Sirius asked, while Tonks and the boy in question went out to the backyard.

"I haven't told them, obviously," Andromeda said, giving Sirius a pleased smile while she went over and added a gift to Harry's pile of unopened presents.

"You do realise they will find out," Sirius said, sounding anxious.

"Yes. But I think this is good for the boy. He's sullen and anti-social. He needs to see that people in different classes are no worse than he is," Andromeda said, walking back over to them, and brushing her light-brown hair from her shoulder.

"You are being awfully calm about this. Once they find out what you've done they won't let you see Draco again!" Sirius complained, almost growling.

"Relax, Sirius. After all these years Narcissa has never fully cut me off. Oh, she pretends to have no contact. But she still emails me and every now and then lets me keep her son. I think that if Draco enjoys this experience she might be more prone to allow him to have further similar experiences," Andromeda said.

"That's naive," Sirius said, shaking his head.

"Sirius, I know my own sister better than you do. Trust me," Andromeda said then gave them both curt smiles before heading out back.

Sirius leaned against the back of the sofa, shaking his head.

"What Andromeda doesn't understand is that it's not Narcissa that worries me. It's Lucius. Did you see the way he looked when Bellatrix outed us at the funeral? It was like he was afraid Draco might catch _it_ from us," Sirius said.

Sirius was trembling. It was moments like this where the taller man seemed prepared to shrink and crumble and Remus knew that just placing a hand on his could help to restore him. Sirius exhaled as Remus placed his hand on his, his tremble waning. Remus gave Sirius a hug and whispered, "The situation is what it is. What will be will be. Best to make the best of it."

And so Remus led his boyfriend to their backyard where there were a number of children running about. In addition to Harry, Draco and Tonks, Molly Weasley had brought over a number of her children, including Harry's friend Ron. Their neighbours, the Lovegoods, had also brought over their young daughter, Luna who was playing with Molly's daughter, Ginny.

Tonks had gravitated towards one of the older Weasley boys, Charlie, who was about her age. Harry was playing with Ron and the family dog, Padfoot. Draco… was standing alone and sulking, much as Remus expected.

Molly Weasley walked up to Draco and asked him if he wanted to play. Draco shook his head, looking uncomfortable. Molly looked disappointed and walked back to the adults on the porch.

"I've never seen a boy like him who doesn't want to play with other children," Molly said.

Sirius scoffed.

"I was like him when I was that age. _I_ grew out of it," Sirius said.

"That just proves my point, doesn't it?" Andromeda said.

Sirius frowned and didn't answer.

"It's not his fault, Molly. The boy's been isolated," Remus said.

"I mean our Percy can be a bit standoffish but he usually comes around," Molly said, sitting down.

"Percy didn't come today, did he?" Remus asked, looking around and counting the red-haired children in the yard.

"No. Just Ron, Fred, George, Ginny and Charlie," Molly said.

Remus looked back over the yard.

"I don't see the twins," Remus said.

Molly quickly stood up, as if called to action.

"Fred! George!" Molly shouted, looking wide eyed and furious.

Everyone looked around. There was a sudden crashing sound in the house.

Molly dashed inside, closely followed by Remus and Sirius. Once inside, everyone's eyes darted around then they all rushed up the stairs only to see the two stocky boys nearly falling on their faces to get out of Remus and Sirius's bedroom.

While Molly scolded the boys, Remus peered into their bedroom. They'd knocked over his smaller bookshelf. He sighed but was glad no real harm was done, though he couldn't even imagine what they had been doing. Perhaps it was an adventure only six year olds could truly understand.

Remus had expected Sirius to get angry but he seemed to be holding it together, possibly more worried about the Malfoy boy. Instead, Sirius helped Remus reassemble the shelf which only took a few minutes while Molly continued to lecture the twins.

"Sorry about that. They've promised me that they won't go exploring your home again," Molly said with a warm smile that turned into a scowl as she turned back to Fred and George, leading them downstairs.

As Remus and Sirius finished getting the last book back on the shelf there came another shout from Molly Weasley, "Ronald Weasley, get off of him right this instant!"

Sirius swore and followed Remus downstairs. Remus wondered if this was just what children's birthday parties were like or if he and Sirius were just extraordinarily unlucky.

Arriving back outside they discovered an unpleasant scene: Ron Weasley on top of a crying Draco Malfoy. Harry was crying nearby and trying to pry his friend off Draco.

"They're four, for goodness sake," Remus said, not believing his eyes.

Molly Weasley pulled her son off of Draco. Andromeda walked over to dust Draco off and examine him.

"He's unharmed," Andromeda said.

"Ronald Weasley, explain yourself!" Molly demanded of her four year old son.

"He started it!" Ron pleaded.

"He's lying!" Draco squealed.

Harry tried to check on Draco but Draco scowled at him and walked away, leaving Harry dejected.

"They're four," Remus repeated, hoping someone would explain how four year olds could end up so easily at odds with each other.

"They're still human, Remus," Sirius said.

Andromeda walked over looking regretful.

"Maybe, you were right, Sirius. Perhaps bringing Draco _was_ a mistake," Andromeda said.

Sirius gave his cousin a small smile.

"He likes cake, doesn't he?" Sirius said.

"I should think so. What child doesn't?" Andromeda said.

"Who is ready for cake?" Sirius shouted, conjuring a chorus of happy children who dashed into the house.

And so everyone sang Happy Birthday to Harry and cake was served. The cake was only a temporary distraction but the Malfoy boy seemed all right for the moment. Harry kept trying to play with him, making Draco look uncomfortable. He probably wasn't used to that.

"Harry's a good lad. You should be proud of him. No matter how much Draco rejects him he keeps coming back. I'm not sure many children would have the patience," Andromeda said, smiling at Remus and Sirius.

"Cheers," Remus said.

With the cake eaten it was finally time for presents. Harry was thrilled to receive the array of small, plastic toys that Remus was almost certain he would end up stepping on in the middle of the night when he got up to the use the loo.

In many ways, Remus had been bored buying gifts for a four year old. He looked forward to the day when he could gift his son books or chemistry sets or a telescope. Of course, being James Potter's son, perhaps Harry wouldn't be interested in those things. He might just want to play football, Remus realised.

Harry's attempts to reach out to the Malfoy boy continued over the afternoon. Draco clearly was interested in all of Harry's new toys but when Harry tried to share, Draco shook his head.

Remus finally decided to approach the boy: "If you want to play with any of Harry's toys that's perfectly all right."

Draco scowled and shook his head.

"Are you sure?" Remus asked.

"Leave me alone!" Draco shouted and walked away.

Remus looked over at Sirius and Andromeda and shrugged.

"We mustn't be rude to our hosts, Draco," Andromeda called out, sighing with futility.

Sirius patted his cousin sympathetically.

"It's not your fault, Andromeda," Sirius said as Remus arrived back beside them.

"I know. I just feel I should be able to do something to help him," she said.

"In more pleasant news, it looks like your daughter has hit it off with Charlie Weasley," Remus said, smiling at the thin girl with the short brown hair and the shorter stocky, dragon-obsessed Weasley child.

"I guess that gives me one excuse to come back. That and your wedding," Andromeda said.

"Oh… About that. We've decided to move it. The truth is we've moved it at least five or six times in the last couple of years. But instead of delaying it we've moved it up this time. I think we've decided the summer solstice next year is better suited. It's Sirius's birthday, after all," Remus said.

"A summer wedding. How lovely," Andromeda said with a warm smile.

Figuring out when to have their pagan wedding had really become a bit of a struggle but they decided that having it during the summer would be the least complicated for everyone. Of course, that was still nearly a year away which meant there was plenty of time for the date to shift again.

Eventually, things were clearly winding down. The Lovegoods said goodbye and took Luna home next door. Molly Weasley rounded all of her children up and left as well. The only children that remained were Harry, Draco and Tonks. Tonks was begging her mom to let her spend the night up here sometime so she could play with Charlie. Harry was sitting on the sofa watching Peter and his girlfriend play video games on Peter's Xbox. Draco seemed to have fallen asleep, his head resting on a sleeping Padfoot.

"Perhaps, Draco did make one friend while we weren't looking," Sirius said.

Andromeda scooped Draco up, eliciting a whimper from the big, black dog.

"I suppose we should leave. Hopefully, we can visit sometime soon," Andromeda said.

Tonks nudged her mum insistently and Andromeda said, "Oh, Dora wants to know if she could spend the night sometime."

"Of course. You're family. How could we say no?" Sirius said with a smile.

"Thank you," Tonks said, giving her cousin Sirius a hug, forcing Sirius to pick her up to get the full effect.

Andromeda departed and Remus and Sirius collapsed before remembering there was still a lot of cleanup to do. Luckily, Peter and Morag were willing to help while Harry napped on the sofa.

Remus considered the notion of having to do it all again the next year and that the older Harry got the more friends he would accumulate. Things could get out of control. Remus supposed this was all part of being a parent. It was work. But peering over the edge of the sofa and looking down at the sleeping dark-skinned boy with the wild black hair, looking so much like James, made Remus realise how much it was worth it. It was worth it for that tug at his heart he felt when he looked at his son sleeping so peacefully.

Before bed Sirius got a call on his mobile from Andromeda. Remus anxiously waited to see what she had to say after Sirius hung up, his face looking perplexed.

"She… she says Draco had a good time. He… asked her if they could come back," Sirius said, disbelief on his face.

"Huh. The world is a funny place, I suppose. Maybe there's hope for Draco Malfoy after all," Remus said, then kissed Sirius on the cheek and rolled over.


End file.
